Practice bowling alley



Aug. 28, 1962 D. G. HEILBRUN PRACTICE BOWLING ALLEY Filed July 18, 1961INV EN TOR.

ff? rr AMPLIFIER FIG-3 DAVID G. HEILBRUN. BY

Li L1 l A COLMAN,NORD,8| KRASS ATTORNEYS ire taes This invention relatesto a device for practicing bowling and, more particularly, relates to apractice bowling alley which includes devices substituted for thecustomary bowling pins and the half of the alley on which they normallystand, which indicate whether or not the bowling ball has passed over apreselected spot on the alley.

In a conventional bowling alley, the only test of the bowlers accuracyor inaccuracy is the ultimate one of the number of pins knocked down.However, this is not sufiicient for practice purposes, since it providesno positive indication of the exact position of the bowling ball on thealley at any given point. That is to say, it gives no accurateindication of whether or not the spot bowler has passed over the spot onthe bowling alley which he has aimed at in his delivery. The presentinvention is therefore designed to furnish such a positive indicationwith an apparatus which is both simple in construction and low in cost.

In using the present invention, the bowler selects the spot over whichhe will attempt to pass the bowling ball (e.g. the sixth board from theright side of the alley, along an imaginary diagonal line runningbetween the conventional diamond-shaped spots which are placed on thealley at every fifth board), and closes a switch designated for thatparticular board. If the bowling ball passes over the desired spot, thelight from an electric lamp is reflected off the top of the bowling ballpassing thereunder into a corresponding photoelectric cell, which emitsa small voltage. By means of an amplifier and a relay, an electric lampis illuminated or other signal is actuated, thus indicating to thebowler that the ball has passed over the desired spot.

It is therefore the general object of this invention to provide positiveindication, during practice, of whether or not the ball passes over aspot previously selected by the bowler.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a device for testingthe accuracy of the bowler which eliminates the customary bowling pinsand the half of the alley on which they normally stand.

Still another object is to provide photoelectric means for determiningwhether or not a bowling ball has passed over a preselected spot on abowling alley or practice bowling alley. 1

An advantage of the invention is that it provides a device which isinexpensive, occupies less room than a conventional bowling alley, andyet provides a positive and accurate indication of whether or not thebowler has been able to pass over the spot used by him in aiming hisdelivery.

A further advantage of the invention is that it does not require anymodification of the surface of the alley, which might affect the motionof a bowling ball thereon.

Other objects and advantages will more fully appear from the followingdescription and drawings, wherein is disclosed a preferred embodiment ofthe invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 represents a fragmentary horizontal crosssectional view of apreferred embodiment of the practice bowling alley of the presentinvention;

FIGURE 2 represents a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 2-2 ofFIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 represents a schematic diagram showing suitable electriccircuits for use in the invention.

In the drawings, similar numerals represent similar parts.

3,551,485 Patented Aug. 28, 1952 refi Referring now more particularly tothe drawings, an embodiment of the invention is shown as comprising twobanks of electric lamps and photoelectric cell tubes 10 and 12,respectively, arranged in pairs, each pair being suspended over andaligned with one of the boards 14 comprising the half-alley 16. There issuch a pair for each of the boards of the alley, eg a pair for boardone, a pair for board two, etc.

The delivery line of the practice bowling alley is designated as 11, andthe end of the alley is designated as 13. It will be observed that theend of the alley 13 need not be far beyond the aforesaid banks 10 and12; hence a halfalley 16 is sufficient, i.e. one which is only roughlyhalf the normal length, though otherwise the same as a conventionalbowling alley. Known means (not shown) for the return of bowling ballsfrom the end of the alley 13 to the delivery line 11 may be employed.

The half-alley 16 contains the conventional diamondshaped spot markers17 in the conventional diagonal arrangement, imbedded in the alley 16,each marker 17 being five boards apart on the alley 16.

The electric lamps 10 and photoelectric cells 12 are mounted on ahorizontal support member 18, as shown in FIGURE 2, which horizontalsupport member 18 is sus pended from above by means of a plurality ofvertical sup-port rods 20, as shown. In order to prevent a bouncing ball22 fro-m striking and damaging a lamp 10 or cell 12;, a suitable guardbumper 24 may be suspended immediately before and parallel to thehorizontal support member 18 by means of vertical rods 26, as shown.

Each pair of lamps and cell tubes, 10, 12, is aimed downwardly at theboard below at equal converging angles to the vertical such that theirlongitudinal axes intersect at a point substantially equal to the heightof a bowling ball 22 on alley 16. Thus, if the bowling ball 22 passesunder the lamp .10, the light will be reflected upwardly along thelongitudinal axis of the corresponding photoelectric cell tube 12, asshown by the dotted lines in FIGURE 2. By activating a suitable electricswitch arrangement, only one pair 10, 12 is operating at a given time,as described below. Thus, the activated photoelectric cell 12 will emitelectrical current if but only if the ball 22 passes directly below theselected pair 10, 12 aligned along the preselected board 14. By properdesign, the accuracy of such an arrangement may readily be made equal,for example, to half the width of a board. Thus, if the center of theball 22 passes over any part of the preselected board 14, thepreselected photoelectric cell 12 will emit electrical current, whichwill in turn activate a signal light or other signal device, asdescribed below.

Thus, the bowler first selects the spot he will aim at on the alley.This spot is defined on the bowling alley as a position along apreselected board 14 and along an imaginary diagonal line connecting theadjacent spot markers 17. For the purposes of this invention, sulficientaccuracy is achieved if one determines that his ball 22 has passed overthe preselected board 14 a short distance back of this exact spot,immediately below the banks 10, 12. This makes it possible for thebowlers view of his spot to be entirely unimpeded by overhangingequipment, without sacrificing substantial accuracy. Therefore, I preferto place banks v10 and 12 parallel to the imaginary diagonal linesdefined by the spot markers 12, and a suitable short distance backtherefrom, as shown in FIGURE 1.

After having selected his spot, the bowler closes a suitable switch (asdiscussed below) which has the effect of lighting the lamp over hispreselected board 14, as well as placing the corresponding photoelectriccell tube 12 over the same board 14 in a closed circuit ready to actuatea signal device when and if light from said lamp 3 10 is reflectedthereto from the top of bowling ball 22 as it passes thereunder.

As shown in FIGURE 3, the preselected lamp 10 may be lit by closingswitch 28, which then draws electric current from electrical power lines29, 36. At the same time, switch 32 is also closed, preferably by meansof an automatic interlocking mechanism indicated schematically as 34,thereby placing the corresponding photoelectric cell 12 aligned over thesame board 14 in the circuit containing the signal light 36 or othersignal device. Thus, the bowler selects the appropriate switch pair 28,32, to throw into closed position, in accordance with thecorrespondingly preselected board 14.

Then upon his delivery of the ball to alley 16, the afore saidpreselected photoelectric cell 12 will emit a small electrical currentif the ball 22 passes under said cell 12, i.e. if the ball has beenproperly aimed. This small current may then be amplified by a suitableamplifier 38. The amplified current activates a time delay relay 40,which closes a switch 42. When the switch 42 is closed, a current,supplied by electrical power lines 43, 4-4 and suitably reduced by atransformer 46, illuminates signal lamp 36 (or other signal device),thereby serving to indicate to the bowler that he has delivered the ball22 to the preselected board or spot.

Various modifications may be made in the structural details withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, the principal novel featuresof which are set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A practice bowling alley adapted for the rolling of a bowling ballthereover, comprising: a longitudinal section of a bowling alleyprovided with a plurality of longitudinal boards; a plurality of lampseach suspended over a preselected board of said alley and directing abeam of light downwardly toward said board at an angle to the vertical;a plurality of photoelectric cells, each being suspended over a boardcorresponding to one of said lamps to form a pair therewith, and beingdirected downwardly toward said board at an angle to the vertical 4which is equal to the aforesaid angle formed by said beam of light andin converging manner with respect thereto, said angles being so selectedas to intersect at a height above said board substantially equal to theheight of a bowling ball; electrical switching means adapted foractivating one such pair; and signal means responsive to the flow ofcurrent from one of said photoelectric cells when activated by thereflection of light thereto from said lamp oil the surface of a bowlingball passing thereunder.

2. The practice bowling alley set forth in claim 1, wherein said alleyis provided with a plurality of conventional spaced apart spot markersin the surface thereof arranged in a line across said alley, and whereinsaid lamps and photoelectric cells are arranged in banks parallel tosaid line at a suitable small distance, further down said alley, saidalley also being provided with a guard bumper suspended over said alleybetween said spot markers and said lamps at approximately the sameheight as said lamps.

3. A practice bowling alley adapted for the rolling of a bowling ballthereover, comprising: a longitudinal section of a bowling alley; asuitable lamp adapted for generating a directed light beam at saidbowling alley section, the angle of said light being inclined withrespect to the plane of the alley; a photoelectric unit disposed at aselected point with respect to said lamp and said alley section andoperative to be actuated by the reflection of light originating fromsaid lamp off the surface of a bowling ball passing over a pre-selectedspot on the alley; and signalling means connected to said photoelectricunit so as to be actuated upon the activating of said unit.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,014,306 Barker Sept. 10, 1935 2,336,997 Mobley Dec. 14, 1943 2,581,738Williams Jan. 8, 1952 2,887,320 Gravelle et al May 19, 1959

